Golf game and practice apparatus



E. VAN KINKLE GOLF GAME AND PRACTICE APPARATUS June 16, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25. 1950 Edward VanKz'nhZe INVENTOR BY? g p ATTORNEY m mXmiOI @OZ 00 nnmum iillllllllll J1me 1953 E. VAN KI NKLE GOLF GAME AND PRACTICE APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 25, 1950 v a 5 5 /1 c 71/16!!! v Edward T hnixz'nl'ile 1.7 2 M q o 4 L0? mm; 6 43 3 3 4F 5 a x 2 3 4 illllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllflllllll' INVENTOR WWW ATTORNEY Patented June 16, 53

ulmuzn S T OFF-IC I 2,s41,932 l a 'e'o r GAME AND P ACTICE-hummus manna-n Kfinklal lint Mieh. Application September 25, 1950, Serial Nor-186,587

' Y '6 Claims.

This invention relates to games and more par ticularly to a golf game and practice apparatus. An object of the invention is to provide'a golf game and practice device for enabling the equivalent of a game of golf with a captive ball to be:

'played' in restricted areas "without restraint as regards the power put intostrokes and withindi'cating 'means movable in accordance with the "foree orintensity of impact of agolf club head withthe'captive ball-for recording the distance been hit man ordinary golf links.

l" Another object of the invention is 'to provide Ta game apparatus of the character mentioned.

which will make it possible to simulate the p'iaying of "a completev game of golf,,a1lowi'ng two or more players, while following the rules of the game of golf, to play against each other. i

' Afurther object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above indicatedf' character having a relatively'large, calibrated disk rotatably turned by a novel and improved speedreduction and' shock'absorbing mechanism upon the striking of thecapt'ive ball connected to said mechanism,1said 'diskhavin'g :the layout of ahole'or holesof' a golf course with various hazards thereon and being turned only a portion of a revolution upon rotation of the ball aroundthe disk a number of times.

A still further object of the "invention is the provisionof a game apparatus as outlined above wherein a rod to which the ball is secured is connected to'a vertical, rotatable postin a manner to'permit the ball to be lowered and played bit of a'tee or a surface, and which will auto matically raise and hOl'd the ball elevated abov'e -[the teebr surfaceffwhile the ball rotates on {a horizontal "plane 'with and around the post; said connection alsotbeing of axnature which will permit :the ball :and rod to rotate with the-rod,"

and objects of the invention which will laterbecome apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has 'beenillusftrated, by way of example only, in the :accom-V ianying drawings, wherein:

5a formal golf ball would have traveled had'it Figure -1 is a side elevation of the improved game and pr-aicticeapparatus; I

' Figure 2 is a plan view of same;

Figures '3 ande are fragmentary vertical sec- 5 tions taken on lines 3-3 and 4--4, respectively,

of Figure 2; I

Figure 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3; v j

Figure 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan of the belt drive mechanism with the bottom plate removed;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical section taken online 1-1 of Figure 4'; l

Figure 8-is asectional viewshowing the manher of attachment of thetgolf ball to the flexible Figure 9 isa diagrammatic view of the belt and fpulleymechanism shown inFigure 6, differing 'inthat the'belt is crossed on itself for retaining the same direction of travel of the turntable when the ball isstruck in the opposite direction; N Figure Nisan elevation and sectional view of an indicator to designate where the disk stopped when more ,than one person is playing the game Figure 11 is a plan viewof a slightly modified form of the invention wherein .a separate disk is used for playing each hole.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,

'a floor or on the ground; An oblong opening "2| through the base substantially centrally thereof andclosed by an upper plate 22 and bet tom plate 23 houses a belt and pulley arr-angeinent 24. The upper plate 22 is of relatively fheavyponstruction and i-s'attached to the base member 2-0 by carriage bolts 25 countersunk above the undersurface of the wooden base '20 and exftende'd' upw'ardly and through the upper plate '22 with nut's 26 on their upper ends,'while the bottom plate 2-3' is of light sheet metal and isattachedby wood screws 21' a v Threaded into the heavy upper, plate 22 and extending upwardly'in' a vertical direction is a tubularbeari ngmember 28 into which is rotatably mounted a post 29 that projects both vabovef'and below the member 28; said post having a collar 30 thereon in engagement with the upper endofthe tubular member 28 and. a pulley 3t detachably fixed thereto and engaging the 3 lower end of said member 28, which support the post against end movement in the member 28.

Also supported on the upper plate 22 and attached to the upper surface thereof by machine screws 32 is a journal frame 33 provided with a pair of spaced bearings 34 and 35 that rotatably support a horizontal shaft 36 and a housing 31 on which is rotatably supported the upper end of a vertical shaft 38. v The attaching plate portion of the journal frame 33 has an, opening 39 therein through which the threaded lower end of the tubular member 28 extends and is clamped 2,641,932 -1 Q J 4i in engagement with the upper surface of the plate 22 by a collar 40 on said tubular member 28.

Rotatably mounted exteriorly on the tubular member 23 and resting on the collar 40 thereof is a worm gear 4| which meshes with a worm 42 fixed adjacent one end of the shaft 36, while on the opposite end of the shaft 36 is fixed a i its manner of attachment may be of any approved construction so long as the ball is securely attached to the rod.

The under portion of what would be the brim of the hat-shaped member 56 and the inner portion of the head 51 on the resilient rod 58 are provided with tapered annular contacting surfaces 62 and 63, respectively, for elevating the ball end of the flexible rod while the ball is in flight and for permitting the ballend of the rod to be lowered when striking the ball.

When desiring to make a stroke, the ball is teed by moving the ball slightly towards the because of centrifugal force, the ball will pull the head 5] on the rod into abutting engagement with the post,. as shown in Figure 4. This will hold the ball end of the resilient rod elevated during the entire rotation of the ball around the Qpostdue to the engagement of the rod with the tion and purpose of which will be further set go forth as the description proceeds.

Fixed to and arrangedabove the Worm gear 4l that is freely mounted onjthe tubular member 28 is an annular flange 48 to which is bolted,

as at 49, a turntable of considerable diameter,

said turntable being preferably formed of thin plywood clamped at its hub portion between a ring member 5| and the annular. flange through which the bolts 49 extend. On the upper surface of the turntable 50,any one of a number of different disks 52 vrepresentinga golf hole or a number of golf holes may beplaced and removed for use of other disks. Each disk has acentral hole 53 for engaging aroundthe-circumference of the ring member 5| and a slit 54 extending from the hole 53 to the outer edge of the disk for permitting theslipping of the disk over the tubular member 28 From the foregoing, it can be seen that when .the post 29 in the stationary tubular member 28 is rotated a considerable; number of complete revolutions, the turntable 50 with a disk 52 I thereon will be turned only aportion of-.a rev- .olution due to the speed reduction gearing in- V terposed between the post and the turntable.

Above the collar 30, thepost 2 3 is slotted downwardly from its upper end, as at, 55, and is ex- .teriorly threaded at the upperportion of such slotted area for attaching a threaded hat-shaped member 56 that engages ahead 51 on the inner end of a resilient rod- 58 that extends through the slot 55. A cotter pin 59 passedthrough oppositely arranged openings in what would be the On the end of the fiexiblerod opposite to that where the head 51 is, arranged is securely attached a ball 60 of a size similar to'that' of a golf ball. While there is shown-in Figure 8 a rubber ball molded over a head I6I that is riveted to the end of the resilient rod 58, it is to be und o we weer-s epsprawn w the cup lLof the nextholel' On certain jholes,

end of the slot55 and largerrcylindrical diameter 64 of the head 51 with the inner fiat undersurface 65 of thefbrini portion ofthe hat member. WhenLplaying indoors, an ordinar'y'coco door mat, such a's'indicated by. the numeral '66 and shown in Figures 1 and 2,may' housed on which to tee the ball to prevent 'marringthe surface of the floor withigolf club'hea'ds; and

it is partially because a mat is used that it is essential that the ball be raised and held elevated from the floor during rotationthereof around the post to prevent the ball'from'contacting the mat and thereby effecting an inaccurate reading of the normal yardage of the stroke.

Mounted on theupber surraee at the forward edge of the base" meinbefZfl 'and extending upwardly' to approximately'th'e level and adjacent the periphery ofthe turntable'is a' pointer 81 forindicating locations marked 'on theldisk152 according to the "amountof L turning motion' of the disk. The markingion thedisk 52 as shown in Figure 2 consists orfa'layout' of nineldifierent golf holes, numbered consecutively andflof var- .ious lengths with equally'spaced graduationsY68 on each hole representing the yardage off the different holes, said graduations being measured from'the followingiedge 69 of each' green 10 to hazards 12, 'suchas'a' sand'Ttrahjfiunker; and

waterpare illustrated "tofindicate 'the lie of a ball should the disk stop withithe pointer) 51 within the width of the area laid out for a hazard.

The disk 52*, illustrated in Figure llis' of 'the sameconstru'ction and size as that shown in Figure 2 and has the same central opening'and slit which are designated as at 53 and 54 respectively. This Idisk differs in that the grad- Iuations 68 are calibrated fora, much shorter distance I around the' circumference of the disk, and the disk has th'elayout of a single golf "hole thereon, which, of course; necessitates a differ- 70- ent' speed reducing,v mechanism of less reduction than that used with the'nine-liole disk; Also, the "disk 52 has 'a' tee $9 illustrated thereon which is necessarily'sepa'rate and spaced from the, green 10? due to th'eldi'iference in the lengths of various holes. ShouldJthere be, ,two or. more short holes, -.the combined length; of which is of less distance than that 'calibrated on :the :disk, 'such'short holes maybeilaid-ioutOn-a-singIe disk, thus reducing theq'numberof disks-required to play thegamewfv I I When two or. moreapersonsareplaying the game; and it is not desiredfor .one-playerto complete a-hole before anotherrperson plays the same hole, several indicators, suchv as shown, in Figures and 1-1. and "designated by thenum'eral .13, may be used: to mark the locations where. the; disk stopped aftergeach; stroke of, each player, thus permitting the, game to be played according to the rules of the game of -golf,.-;;The indicators may represent golf balls'and maybe of'-diifferent colors form of indicating means may beused,v

,As partially stated and previously inferred, a {gear reduction mechanism interposed between the gturntableifl and the rod which carriesthe ball l 60 rotates the turntable 50 a portion ofa revolution upon the rotation of the'ball 60a number of timesaround the turntable, and the disk on the turntable has graduations thereon proportional to;. the.=distance of icirculartravelof theballwhich is determined by the force or intensity of impact of a golf emu ha'dwith the ball, the construction and design of parts beingsuch to indicate by the graduations on the dis'kthe distance a normal gol f ball would have traveled had it been hit on an ordinary golf links.

While the elastic belted] maybe arranged either I in the customarymanner forturning the disk in acounterclockwise directionas shown in Figure- 6,

or jcr'ossedas shown in Figure 9 for turning the .1 ;diskin; the same counterclockwise direction when *the ball-isto bestruck ih'anopposite direction,

thereby permitting theuse of the apparatus by either leftor right-hand golfers, said elastic belt also performs the function of a shock absorber for the gear reduction mechanism and turntable structure when the ball is struck.

When using the apparatus to play an imitative I game of golf, the disk to be used is placed on the turntable 52 with the pointer 6! at the tee indication of the first hole. The ball is then aligned with the pointer 61 and is moved slightly towards the turntable to permit a lowering of the ball for teeing.

.the ball is struck produces an outward pull on 'the rod 58 engaging the surface 64 of the head 51 with the surface 65 on the hat member 56 for holding the ball elevated during its horizontal rotary movement around the .turntable. Rotation the :cup for such; player to By. proceeding in this manner, the entire game of make his next shot.

golf may beplayed.

The same operation as described for playing an imitative game:of golf can becarried outin using the apparatus for practice, as the yardage of each individual stroke will be indicated. -In view 'ofthe foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it

is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation, and advantages of the device .will be quite apparent to those. skilled in this art.

' e ailed description is accordingly deemed u necessary .-It"is ,to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, various of the post 29 throughthe pulley and belt ar- 1 rangement 24 and gear reduction mechanism moves the turntable in a counterclockwise direction an amount according to the force used in striking the ball and registers the graduations on the disk with the pointer to indicate the length of the shot and the distance to the cup. The player then may play out the hole or may place an indicator 13 on the disk at the location shown by the pointer 61 and then move the disk back on the turntable to the tee indication for the next player to make his drive. After all players have made their drives, the disk can then be movedto the players indicator 13 which is farthest from change may be made without departing from the spirit and full intendment of the invention... 20 r What is claimedis: H 1. A golf gameand practice apparatus com- .prisingabase member, a vertically arranged tubular bearing member on said base membena post rotatably supported in said tubular bearing .member, aturntable rotatably supported by said slower rate of speed than rotation of'said post,

a removable disk supported on said turntable with calibrations thereon proportional to the rotation ofthe post, a rod connected to said post above said turntable and extending laterally'beyond the periphery of said disk and turntable, a ball, secured to the extended end of said rod, and a pointer on said base aligned with the calibrations on said disk to indicate the movement of the turntable. i

.2. A golf game and practice apparatus comprising a base member, avertically arranged tubular bearing member on said base member, a. postrotatably supported in said tubular bearing vertical shaft, an elastic belt extending around both of said pulleys, a speed reduction mechanism connecting. said vertical shaft to said disk for rotating said disk at a slower rate of speed than rotation of said post, said disk having calibrations thereon proportional to the rotation of the post, a laterally extending rod connected adjacent one of its ends to the upper projecting end of said post, a ball secured to the other end of said rod outwardly of the periphery of said disk, and a pointer on said base aligned with the calibrations on said disk .to indicate the movement of the disk.

3. A golf game and practice apparatus comprising a base member, a vertically arranged tubular bearing member on said base member, a post rotatably supported in said tubular bearing member and projecting through opposite ends thereof, a turntable rotatably supported by said tubular bearing member exteriorly thereof, a pulley secured to the lower end of said post, a rotatably mounted vertical shaft supported by said base member and spaced from said post, a second pulley secured on said vertical shaft, an elastic belt extending around both of said pulleys, a speed reduction worm gear drive connecting said vertical shaft to said turntable. for rotating said turntable at a slower rate of speedthanl rotation of said post, a removable disk supported on said turntable with calibrations thereon proportional to the. rotation of the post, a, laterally extending rodlconnected adjacent one of its ends to the upper projecting ,end of said post .above'said turntable, a ball secured to the other end of said rod outwardly of the periphery of said turntable, and a pointer on said base aligned with the calibrations on said disk to indicate the movement of the turntable.

4. A golf game and practice apparatus comprising a base structure, an upstanding vertically arranged rotatable post supported by said base structure, said post having the upper end thereof vertically slotted, a rod extending laterally through said slotted end of said post and being slidably and rotatably arranged therein, a cap secured to the upper slotted end of said post above said rod, a head on one end of said rod, and a ball on the opposite end of said rod, said head and cap having adjustably arranged contacting surfaces thereon'when said rod engages the end of the slot for raising and lowering the ball end of the rod upon sliding movement of said rod in the slot.

5. A golf game and practice apparatus comprising a base structure, an upstanding vertically arranged rotatable post supported 'by said base structure, said post having the upper end thereof vertically slotted, a rod extending laterally through saidslotted end of saidpost and being slidably and rotatably arranged therein, a cap adjustably threaded on the upper slotted end of said post above said rod, a head on one end of said rod, and a ball on the opposite end of said rod, said head and cap having contacting surfaces thereon when said rod contacts the end of the slot for permitting a lowering of the ball end of the rod upon manual inward sliding movement of the rod through the slot and for raising the balllend of the rod upon an outward pull on the ball end of the rod.

" 6. A golf game and practice apparatus 'comprising a base structure, a verticallyarranged rotatable post supported by said base structure, a turntable also rotatably supported by said base structure and rotatable on the same axis as said post, a driving mechanism arranged below said turntableand connecting said post to said turntable for rotating said turntable upon rotation of the post, a removable disk supported on said turntable with calibrations thereon proportional to the-rotation of the post, a stationary pointer aligned with the calibrations on said disk to indicate movement of the disk, said post projecting upwardly above said turntable and disk and having the upper end thereof vertically slotted, a rod extending laterally through said slotted end of said'post and being slidably and rotatably arrangedtherein, a cap detachably secured to the upper slotted end of said post above said rod, a head on one end of said rod, and a ball on the opposite end of said rod, said head and cap having adjustably arranged contacting surfaces thereon when said rod engages the end of the slot for permitting a lowering of the ball end of the rod by sliding movement of said rod in the slot.

EDWARD VAN KINKLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Australia Jan. 27, 1942 

